Ingredients And Nutrition Overview

WeightWatchers Points are estimated by carbohydrates, fats, protein and fiber in product. They are not an affirmation of better quality or nutritional value of the product or its manufacturer. Only way to count for dieters. Less points are better.Read more at Weight watchers diet review

This product is highly processed. If you'll take a look at its ingredient list, you'll discover new words to add to your vocabulary. Many of theses ingredients are required to increase the shelf life of the product and improve the flavor that disappears when food is not fresh.

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a highly processed ingredient manufactured from surplus corn, and yielding a cheap replacement to table sugar. In the early 1980's many food manufacturers started using it instead of sugar as a cost cutting measure. That's about the same time obesity rates started to skyrocket in the US. Most scientists agree that HFCS is no better and no worse than plain sugar, though some newer studies seem to find the two affect the metabolism differently. Consumption of both should be drastically limited.

Mono and diglycerides are commonly used in processed foods to maintain stability in liquid products and "improve" quality in baked goods. These glycerides could be created using both hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils or animal fats. In theory, this may transfer a small amount of trans fats into the product. The glycerides are synthesized into phosphates by reacting with phosphorus pentoxide, a potential environmental hazard. But that's only part of the problem ... The presence of mono and diglycerides should discourage you from buying a product for more than just these reasons: their inclusion in a product indicates that it is industrially processed. Choose products without mono and diglycerides not only for health reasons, but because you are getting a better quality food item overall.

Companies add artificial flavors to products to make them taste better. They are created in a lab and the formulations are guarded as trade secrets. Flavorings can compensate for flavor loss during processing, substitute for ingredients, lower production costs and increase shelf stability. Artificial flavorings are cheaper to source than natural flavors and are perceived as "worse" than natural flavors. They are more stable (and usually less chemically complex) than natural flavors.Artificial flavors are not necessarily bad for you from a health perspective. however, people with food sensitivities or allergies may want to avoid artificial flavors if they are unnamed. You can always contact the manufacturer for more information.

Corn syrup is often used as a sweetener in processed food. It is NOT THE SAME as high fructose corn syrup. Don't be fooled when looking up the amount of sugar a product contains if corn syrup is listed as an ingredient. This is because corn syrup contains 50% sugar, and 50% of another form of carbohydrate known as "oligosaccharides", which is pretty close to sugar.If a product has less sugar than you think it should, but contains corn syrup in the ingredient list, you'll know that the missing carbs are those oligosaccharides, not much better.